Monday, May 21, 2007

Gay Rights Pioneers Fed Up With "New" Gays...

So fed up they are urging police to patrol with weapons, impose curfews and close certain trains stops. These are the same men and women that participated in some of the first gay right's marches in NYC's West Village and participated in the "gay riots" set off by police raids in the 60's...but the rowdy "hip hop generation" of gays and lesbians are more than they can bear:

"..."They're all out with their radios," Jeffries said, "and they're just hip-hopping all over the street."

Most of the gay teens and 20-somethings who flirt, kiss, smoke, dance and gossip on the pier, across the street from apartments and brownstones, don't know about the Stonewall riots, Jeffries said. "They're another generation. These are the people who got the rights" because his generation fought for them.

"There's no willingness to interact," Jeffries said, "or to really treat us with the respect we deserve." (source)

I was struck while reading this how similar it is to how war Veterans feel. They fought, suffered, sacrificed and were wounded for freedoms that others take for granted and often abuse -without even the slightest respect for what they did... I assume those that were in the heart of the Civil Rights movement must feel similar also.